London : Firefighters worked through the night to dampen the massive blaze that engulfed a 24-storey residential tower block in west London killing at least 12 people with claims emerging that warnings about safety had been ignored. The fire at Grenfell Tower on the Lancaster West Estate in Latimer Road was reported at 01:16 AM (local time) yesterday. About 600 people were believed to have been inside the tower's 120 flats, many of them asleep, when the blaze ripped through the building.
Firefighters worked through the night to dampen the fire -- with flames still visible, more than 24 hours after the blaze began. Crews using an aerial platform were going "floor by floor" shining lights into the building, BBC reported. Police confirmed 12 deaths among the 600 residents thought to have lived in the tower but expect that toll to rise significantly as the building is searched. Hospitals treated 74 people, of whom 18 remain in a critical condition. Scotland Yard said the recovery of charred remains would be "long and complex".
Firefighters said the blaze was unprecedented in its scale and the speed with which it engulfed Grenfell Tower in Kensington. Witnesses described flames climbing the 24-storey building within 15 minutes. PTI
